Recent content by TheEcho

maybe they thought that if the boats drifted off with the tide, if they waited for a full cycle of the tide the boats would return to their start point? and it would have worked if it hadn’t been for that pesky wind, perhaps?

You were unlucky. I booked a driving medical at the private hospital in Lagos, and it went as follows . “Is your eyesight OK?” “Actually I wear glasses for driving” “OK”.. tappity tap.. one blood pressure check later and medical completed with tickybox for needs eyesight correction. My partner...

Well that should be obvious. Why should anyone be ashamed of such a thing outside one’s control? I am not ashamed of being born in a prosperous part of south east England rather than rural Africa. It does, however, mean if someone wants a conference about the experience of growing up in...

The same box would apply, as it is neither a male nor a female identity. I am sure there won’t be enough people within that category to make it statistically worthwhile breaking it down further. Are you particularly interested in how sailing experience differs by non-gendered identities, or...

There is a box for neither male nor female - maybe you missed it.

Yes, the inner harbour where the fatality occurred is behind a lock and there are regular marina berths there as well as private moorings associated with the surrounding houses. We are berthed there at the moment as it is nice and deep whereas the silting in the outer harbour left only about...

Most of the refugees nearly all, do stay in the first safe country. A few don’t... I think the thought behind it is that if you have already faced death a few times on a long journey, a few more miles to fix the remaining few problems is acceptable. In surveys, the driver isn’t usually the...

It is common with a refugee family for a young man to be the first to make the trip and for the women and kids to follow as soon as he has found somewhere safe, has reliable contacts, and they have got the cash together to follow. They are likely to be well off in the country they are fleeing as...

PC Plod from Billericay has advised that it is merely a matter of aggressive unwelcome guests, which is a very common problem at this time of year, and the solution is to offer them some figgy pudding, keep them well away from the eggnog, and they will go home eventually.

As pretty much every day is heterosexual pride day, I would be leery of anyone with a heterosexual flag. It is the default and most people get on with their heterosexual lives quite happily without feeling the need to deliberately attract more heterosexual folk (vs people, regardless of...

And if one is knowledgeable in a certain area, then technical terms arise for different situations. As sailors we can hardly talk, haven’t you ever seen a new sailor’s eyes glaze over with cap shrouds, spreaders, doohickeys, thingeymajigs, and all kinds of names for similar but not quite the...

The world has all sorts of folks in it. Some of them sail boats. No need to be judgemental

You are talking about the transgender flag. We were pondering having a house flag at one point, and got as far as considering what would go well with a RCYC ensign, and a transgender or an LGBT Pride flag was an option, as we usually sail with a transgender skipper and it would be nice for...

I expect the hire company laid down the law “you’re not hiring a boat that big from us without some qualifications”. And as well as that, the boat was hired for the purposes of the programme, so it becomes commercial use so MCA requirements. Whereas Dimbleby already owned his boat, and would...